CONAKRY, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Paris-based miner AMR began production at its Guinean bauxite mine on Tuesday, aiming initially to produce between 6 and 10 million tonnes a year of the aluminium ore, the company said.
Alliance Miniere Responsable (AMR) was founded by two French businessmen and major shareholders include former Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon and French telecoms tycoon Xavier Niel.
A company statement said the mine's output will all be sold to Societe Miniere de Boke, a Guinean company whose main shareholders are Singapore's privately-owned Winning International Group and China's Shandong Weiqao SDWQP.UL .
Guinea has about a third of the world's bauxite reserves, but annual production has hovered below 20 million tonnes a year for several years, owing largely to political instability.
In 2017, SMB expects to export more than 15 million tonnes of bauxite, putting it on a par with number one producer Guinea Bauxite Company (CBG), majority owned by Alcoa (NYSE:AA) AA.N , Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX and Dadco.
Until 2015, CBG and Russia's Rouski Alumini were the only companies that exported bauxite from Guinea.